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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Accessibility in Vegas

Our recent trip and my definition of accessibility.

We returned Friday evening, actually it was Saturday morning by the time we arrived at our condo.   All in all it was an enjoyable trip I only wish the weather would have been more cooperative, it rained quite a bit while we were there.  It was actually warmer in Ottawa than Vegas?

The shows we saw were quite impressive I enjoyed "Love" a rendition of the Beatles the most.

As you are aware when you travel with a disability you try and plan for every contingency, everything from accessible tickets for the shows to the establishment you will be staying at. Unless it meets your needs a trip can easily go from excellent to horrible within the blink of an eye.

The onus is on you to be certain your specific needs will be met.  I've probably mentioned this before yet it is worth repeating "do not rely on anyone else to make the arrangements for you."

We stayed at the Mirage hotel in Las Vegas and requested a fully adapted room for those with mobility impairments.

They have two types of rooms, we reserved the one with the ceiling lifts in order to facilitate transfers. Transferring at home is not that much of a problem it isn't easy that's for certain yet it is still possible for me to transfer, put me in a totally new environment and it's a different story.

Nothing is the same, everything is placed differently it takes several days to become somewhat accustomed to your new surroundings . 
In order to minimize this period of adaptation I always make arrangements to get the most adapted room available in this instance it was definitely worthwhile.

Several years ago we stayed at the Bellagio, while we had an adapted room I did not make use of the lifts as I really didn't require them yet they were there if need be.

This time around I made use of the lifts for each transfer and it made life a whole lot easier not only for me but also for my spouse. The room we had at the Mirage is so far my favorite, plenty of room and I'll let you judge for yourself by the pictures I've posted.
 

Needless to say we did not win any jackpots but we did come out pretty even spending more money on tips than we did actually gambling. We took a taxi and visited the South outlet mall I was definitely not impressed yet we can say we saw it and had the opportunity to visit some of the stores.

I've made a video which I have posted on UTube, unfortunately it is not bilingual and at this time only available in French however it is pretty self-explanatory if you look at the video you will see how I utilized the lift in the washroom.





 






Link to utube
                                                    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3E7j2OZxuc

4 comments:

Matt said...

The Mirage was always my favorite LV hotel. Glad to hear they have such good facilities. Also thanks for the transfer video, I had never seen that process before.

Of course I was shocked to hear you speaking French! It was a good video even without knowing what you were saying. I imagined you were probably saying something very French and cultured like, "This is how Christian Lacroix gets to fashion week."

MikeH said...

Hello Matt,
No I must admit it was not cultured LOL. Did not have time to practice so it was a one take deal.
I had seen many lifts with slings but I find this type of lift easier-to-use, actually I could probably use it on my own with a few modifications.

I was born in the province of Québec in Canada and grew up in a French neighborhood. My father who passed away when I was seven months old requested that my mom sent my brother and I to English school. During the day my friends were English and upon my return home they were French. I was fortunate as I never had to learn one or the other I have no accent speaking French or English. I utilize a voice recognition program almost always in English as it does not work that well with the French language, the language itself is simply too complicated and the computer cannot keep up.

Take good care

Karen said...

I am so glad that you had a nice time Michael! I really was hoping to hear that you won millions though ;)

I would have to say that the room looked great! The lifts are awesome, and must have made your saty quite comfortable..

If I ever go to Vegas, I will definitely stay at the Mirage.

Cheers

MikeH said...

Hello Karen,
I believe the majority of large hotels have fully adapted rooms you just have to make certain that their definition of adapted matches your requirements.
In the case of the Mirage hotel they have two out of over 3000!

Our room number was
2104

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